The present invention relates generally to liquid sprayers, and specifically to priming valves for priming the fluid supply of a liquid sprayer.
Paint sprayers are well known and commonly used to paint various surfaces. Airless paint sprayers provide the highest-quality finish due to the ability to finely atomize liquid paint. To ensure a high-quality finish from an airless paint sprayer, air cannot be allowed to enter the pumping mechanism of the paint sprayer. Typically, the fluid supply is included in a rigid container and a suction hose is provided within the container. Air then replaces the volume of liquid sprayed throughout the spraying process. The suction hose generally extends to the bottom of the container from the pumping mechanism to allow as much fluid as possible to be sprayed before air begins to enter the suction hose. Alternatively, to ensure that air does not enter the fluid supply, a collapsible liner for holding the liquid to be sprayed can be used, as described in U.S. application Ser. No. 13/660,248 titled Sprayer Fluid Supply with Collapsible Liner, which is hereby incorporated by reference. When a collapsible liner is used, air is purged from the collapsible liner to prime the fluid supply.